Adoption: Code Immortal
by Professor Image
Summary: Up for Adoption.


For a variety of reasons I now find myself at an impasse. I feel as if I've come as far as my meager writing skills is capable, and loathe to continue when I don't feel I can personally give a story one hundred percent, I've decided to leave the fates of my many works of fiction to other, more capable authors.

Anyone and everyone are allowed to adopt my stories. There are no restrictions, no limitations. Write a continuation, if it so pleases you, or a rewrite, or even completely desiccate the story if you wish. It doesn't matter to me. If you think you can do better, just prove it. Write.

Ta.

Professor Image.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Code Geass. Sunrise entertainment owns the Code Geass anime and any other source materials. I have made no monetary gain off this story. I wrote this story for entertainment purposes only. Please do not sue.

Disclaimer #2: wolfblood123's challenge idea was what inspired the production of this story. Therefore, the original idea belongs to him. He has agreed to let me write this story, so I decided to go ahead and go for it. If you have any questions, please PM him or me.

Summary: "Life sucks. Then you die." "If only it were that simple." AN: Not your usual time travel, AU-fic!

Code Immortal: Lelouch of the Ageless

Verse I

"Life sucks. Then you die."

XXX

The sky was blue.

I could scarcely think of much else; not the faded, dull blue of the polluted Pendragon skyline, or the achingly bright of Japan's shores, but a quiet, unappreciated brilliance that I could only now grasp. It came as a startling realization to me now, ironic in its abruptness that I had never stopped to consider it beforehand.

My quiet ruminations of my past sins and current self-loathing and regrets receded to the back of my mind. Even the fading voice of my sister pleading for me to live began to lose focus. The only coherency in my mind was the sky. It escaped me why this was so important to me now, when all else had lost its value before my dying gaze, and yet I could not find it in myself to care.

I was a dying man, laid out upon the ground before billions of men and women, driven through with a vengeful blade. It was almost poetic, the irony that assaulted me. Shakespeare would have been proud of the tragedy of my life.

I could give into such weaknesses now. There was no more reason to hold the illusion. Everything had been set into motion, now – all careful planning and subtle manipulations. Whether or not Nunnally, Kallen, C.C., Suzaku or the others could forgive me was really up to them; I have already given up all caring in the face of this brilliance.

I lay there on the ground, my heart slowing, staring up into the sky with all my doubts, regrets and deepest wishes laid bare. The heavens looked upon me with a speculative expression, judging my worth and character. Feeling the need to validate my views I opened my mouth to give my argument to their judgmental stare.

"I destroy worlds…and create them anew…" with my final words said, I felt my heart still and the darkness creep into my eyes. A weightless sensation passed over me, and I found myself standing amongst the blue, looking down at all the hapless, ignorant humans that were frantically racing across the blue planet. A touch of wistfulness overcame me, and I found myself reaching towards a familiar emerald haired woman with something like regret and longing in my heart.

"Sorry, mate, but that door is closed to you," a cool voice broke my concentration. I then was aware of the fact that I was no longer floating alone in the heavens.

Aimlessly drifting beside me as we scaled the planet's hemisphere was a white robed man that bore a striking resemblance to me. In fact, we would almost be carbon copies if not for the slight differences in facial appearance, build, and eye color. Strange, that the man would bear a remarkable similarity with Suzaku and myself.

"Who are you?" I wondered aloud. The man smiled, brandishing the tail end of his robes and giving a lackadaisical bow to me while suspended in the air.

"Who am I? Who are you?" the man intoned, and then swept his hand to the planet below, saying, "More for that matter, who are _they_?" his eyes alighted to my face before he gave me a conspiratory wink.

I examined nearly a hundred different theories before deciding on the most logical argument nearly a nanosecond after the last word left the man's mouth. From the man's curious way of answering my question with several more questions, prompting me to examine the human race and myself, while also asking me to examine himself, it meant that this man had a connection with the world. Examining the blue sky that we were floating amongst and the key factor that I was currently dead, I was able to deduce a logical answer to this question. Really, it was the _only_ answer.

"Very good," the man clapped, smiling faintly. "It seems death has not dulled your mind in the least. Nevertheless, that was a given. You are, after all, Lelouch vi Brittannia."

I took a breath.

"So I was right?" I questioned thoughtfully. "You are god." The man gave a resigned smile.

"I'm a lot of things, actually," said the entity known as God. He scrunched up his face in mild displeasure, amending, "Well, _we_ are a lot of things: 'God' included, of course." He raised a hand to his face and tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"I see," I murmured, taking in the unassuming form of the god. "The 'World of C', I take it?" I pointed his way. He nodded, smiling.

"Yes, I, well, 'we' are the collective conscious of humanity and every other species in this universe. It's just that this form and identity was chosen to confront you about a great many things." God then rubbed his nails against his breast, looking nonchalant. "There's a lot to be discussed, so we will take this conversation to a more comfortable location." Then God snapped his fingers and we were suddenly sitting at a table in what looked like a traditional Japanese shrine. I looked to him in askance.

Sheepishly, the god intoned, "This is a little of yours and Suzaku's influence bleeding through, mind." He waved his hand in gesture to the room, almost dismissive to my curiosity.

"So one doesn't simply have to be dead to share his thoughts and experiences with you, is that correct?" I prodded, shifting my sitting stance to give myself better comfort. God nodded; obviously amused at something I said or did at some point in the conversation.

"Quite," he nodded. He rapped his fingers onto the lap level table, and suddenly there were two steaming mugs of herbal tea waiting for us. Instantly, God plucked the cup from the tabletop and motioned to me vaguely. "Do you mind? Suzaku's made me a bit partial to it…" heedless of whatever I was intending to say, the god took a lengthy sip and moaned in pleasure.

Carefully, I picked up my own cup and sipped quietly at the hot drink, pleased that it tasted almost exactly as it had when I was alive. I had been afraid that any food or drink in the afterlife, or what amounted to it, would be dull and/or tasteless. For once, it was surprisingly good to be wrong.

"Now," said God, once he had taken a mighty pull and set aside his mug to let the rest cool. "I believe that we were speaking of my, or should I say 'our' connection to you and Suzaku, yes?" disregarding what I was going to say again, God waved dismissively, tutting. "Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'God is in all of us'?" he shook his head.

"I take it; it is more than an expression?" I prompted. God laughed.

"Quite right, quite right," God waited for me to place my own mug down before continuing. "I'm connected to every soul, not just the dead, so even modern events can influence my consciousness. In addition, the presence of Zero and the Demon Emperor Lelouch was a big matter for the world. I do not think there has ever been anything quite as important for the world as the hatred and fear spawned by Lelouch vi Brittannia, and the awe and worship inspired by Zero. And naturally, you and Suzaku had big parts to play in both identities."

"I see," I stated, not at all surprised by the explanation. It _did_ make an awful lot of sense, despite me wishing it did not. I sighed.

"Yes, that is a can of worms and a half, isn't it?" God asked rhetorically, smiling. "Suffice to say that there's a lot of pull in the ol' noggin for your rewards and punishment," God jerked a thumb to his head. "Despite all the dead knowing your reasoning for doing what you did and even forgiving you, the living still have a big pull on my conscious. So we are going to make a compromise." God leaned back, arched an eyebrow, and smiled vaguely.

"Why don't I make this easy and give you the okay to send me to hell, or whatever amounts for it?" I asked the god. God frowned, shook his head, and leaned forward onto his elbows on the table.

"The dead have a lot of pull, too, and for that matter there's more of them then however many humans can be born at any one time." God sighed, looking suddenly very fatigued. "Despite how the living wish your eternal damnation, the dead want to see you find peace...but _everyone_ wishes that Lelouch vi Brittannia never became the 99th emperor of Brittannia…" he looked meaningfully at me.

I fell silent, suddenly feeling as if my mouth had curiously gone very dry. I opened my mouth several times to give him an answer, but could not order my thoughts enough to say something, and thus kept closing my mouth a few seconds after opening it every time. Eventually, I could not help speaking.

"What?" really, that summed up so many things, and was accurate on how I felt about the subject matter completely.

"No, not time travel," God rolled his eyes, sitting back in his seat to eye me thoughtfully. "I may be God, or what amounts to it in this universe, but there are just some laws that I _won't_ ignore, because they are there for good reason. Moreover, really, sending you back to the past would render everything you have gone through worthless since it would cease to be in your own past. It would cheapen the sacrifices and the tragedies and miracles performed in the aborted future to begin with; not to mention all the paradoxes that you would encounter by simply _existing_…"

I nodded. It made sense. Despite every fiber of my being wishing dearly to render my sins mute, I knew that that was too much to ask for. Time travel would not only be incredibly dangerous, but it would simply make everything I had fought for worthless, as the results would simply cease to be once I took my first steps into the past. God let me ruminate on my thoughts for a moment before continuing.

"However, we can't just leave things as they are. We need to do something with you. Not only have you given many sacrifices to the betterment of the world, but you have also taken much happiness from the world as well. Your virtues may be great, but so too are your sins…" The World of C examined him critically before smiling. "I suppose then the next choice would be to banish you from this universe…" he mused.

My stomach plummeted. I looked in horrified disbelief at the god, who returned my terror-stricken expression with an easy joy of his own.

"Yes, that's for the best," God placed his hands into his lap and studied me critically, before shaking himself. "Though I won't be as cruel as to, as they say, 'toss you to the wolves'. No, I think I will leave you with a few gifts to ease the transaction." God snapped his fingers, and suddenly we were floating in the clouds again, only this time the form of my Zero persona accompanied us.

"The first issue is that the identity of Zero is deeply ingrained into who you are, just as Lelouch vi Brittannia and Lelouch Lamperogue is ingrained into who you are." God gave a resigned smile, and shrugged. "The second is that the identity of Zero has been taken up by several others, and is as ingrained into who they are as it is with you." He eyed the suit shrewdly, before waving and suddenly I found myself wearing the ensemble with no warning.

"Suzaku and C.C. had gifts of their own, which include their various enhancements, such as the Code and the Geass command of 'live'. These will be shared with you as you will now take on the identity of Zero, which not only includes your life and experiences but theirs as well." He shrugged. "There's also the fact that your body will now be adapted to the life that Suzaku lived, who was perfect physically, down to even allergies and immune system. You will have his understanding of weapons, physical training, martial arts, Knightmare piloting, swordplay, and the like. Then there is what you will be getting from C.C., which ranges from several thousand years of miscellaneous memories, to her various skills in martial arts, sciences, languages, and even a Code of your own."

"Finally," god said, raising a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose I can give you a gift of my own…a little experiment, if you will. The presence of a Code is nice, yes, but it can always be taken away…and it wouldn't be a punishment if you just could take the easy route and force your Code on someone else and then kill yourself, would it?" God shook his head while I scowled at the thought. "So, I'm making the Code permanent for you. But it would just be cruel of me to make you suffer through eternity alone, so I'll give you the ability to bestow Codes to anyone with a fully evolved Geass, even people that you've given Geass to."

"Right," God exclaimed, clapping his hands together loudly, startling me out of my musings, "Off with you, now. I cannot take all this confusion, unable to decide if I hate or love you, so I would rather be done with you completely. Tata!" God waved dismissively, and I felt myself falling through a hole in time and space, screaming.

This was going to _suck_.

XXX

When I came to someone was poking me with a stick.

I jerked into readiness without conscious thought, throwing myself off the ground and hands snapping out to grasp the wooden construct fiercely. A quick glance down at my offender showed that the stick was actually a spear, and as the thought of the weapon entered my mind, I felt a surge of panic and rage burst in my mind. I thrust my fist down and snapped the weapon in half, spun it and smacked the man carrying it across the face. The strange, brutish man fell to the ground, crawled frantically away, and then sprinted from my sight.

My body was tensed, locked in a fight or flight response, when I finally reoriented myself. The wood and stone spear clasped in my hands felt curiously light, and my eyes were unnaturally keen as I took in the crude construction of the weapon, and the chilly plains that surrounded me, large piles of ice and stone decorating the landscape as far as the eye could see.

After a second, I decided to keep the broken spear, that was now more like a knife then a spear, before I cautiously edged through the strange ice covered forest, wondering.

A glimpse of dark material startled me from my contemplation, and a glance to an iced over tree showed me a reflection of my form. My hands went to my helmet and curled under the locks. I then had it off my head and proceeded to look myself over.

I cursed.

To Be Continued…

AN: That is a wrap.

Okay, I have gone back and rewritten certain scenes and issues with grammar and spelling. Check it over if you want. Certain scenes are a bit different. Now I have an accurate idea of where I want to go with this.

As always, leave a review and let me know what you think.

Ta.

Professor Image.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Code Geass. Sunrise entertainment owns the Code Geass anime and any other source materials. I have made no monetary gain off this story. I wrote this story for entertainment purposes only. Please do not sue.

Disclaimer #2: wolfblood123's challenge idea was what inspired the production of this story. Therefore, the original idea belongs to him. He has agreed to let me write this story, so I decided to go ahead and go for it. If you have any questions, please PM him or me.

Summary: "Life sucks. Then you die." "If only it were that simple." AN: Not your usual time travel, AU-fic!

Code Immortal: Lelouch of the Ageless

Verse II

"If only it were that simple."

XXX

Thinking back onto my life thus far, one has to question how I could remain as relatively sane as I am.

It seemed that it was not enough of a punishment for the World of C to send me to an alternate universe, complete with my own Code to complicate my continued existence. No, apparently God felt it was perfectly acceptable to throw me into this new universe in the middle of their first ice age.

I could almost live with that – it was a far better outcome then I deserved, at least. The problem was that I was not even wearing my own face.

Actually, that was not exactly true. I _was_ wearing my own face, but it was harder and more rugged then I remembered it being. What is more is that my facial features appeared to be a mix between my own and Suzaku's. I even had Suzaku's eyes!

The next few years were…trying. What amounted for intelligent company was the local Cro-Magnon and Neanderthals that made up the population of the area. Most were afraid of me, since I now had Suzaku's physical prowess at my disposal, but also because my Zero suit was frightening in their eyes. I could not complain at this happy fortune, because, honestly, the ancestors to the human race were my physical superiors in every way, and it was only through intimidation that I was able to keep them at bay.

I dealt with plenty in my time in the ice age, and had to utilize every stolen memory and experience from both Suzaku and C.C. to make my way through those early years. God may have given me my suit (and probably modified it) which gave me the ability to withstand incredible punishment, but it was not as if I was invulnerable. Within only a few years, the only salvageable piece of clothing on my person was my helmet.

Sabertooth Tigers and other ancient, very dangerous beasts were always a concern, even if they could not kill me, and the geass that I was afflicted with prevented me from giving up on life. I ended up having to rely heavily on C.C.'s various memories acting as a plethora of jobs and lifestyles in order to make the tools and supplies needed to survive. Wood and stone could only do so much, and Sabertooth Tigers were just as vulnerable to steel.

It was…problematic, though, trying to build the items needed to fight off my adversaries without unduly affecting the timeline. I could not create, for instance, a gun, which would inspire the sudden advancement of the human race when catching a glimpse of its killing power. However, constructing a spear or knife made of steel was easily forgettable to the other sentient creatures that shared my territory.

Fire was an immensely helpful, and my pursuit of it found me discovering a dormant volcano to experiment with my new knowledge. The dried and empty cave at the top of the volcano was the perfect place to set up a temporary shop to work on my blacksmithing and metallurgy, though not exactly comfortable to live in. Thankfully, I did not need to eat or sleep to survive, so I did not immediately venture out of the dead peak until many months later when I had perfected my secondhand skills and managed to create the few basic tools that I would need to set up shop at a more convenient location.

From there, I took to wandering the plains, always with my spear and dagger in hand. I had long ago stored my helmet away, shattered as it was by a direwolf's claw, so now I looked like all the other ancestors of the human race, save for the fact that I was smaller and leaner than they were.

My skills in battle were quite apparent, and never seemed to dull. The locals that I would glimpse in the midst of a hunt would eventually start to emulate my skills, though it was a crude bastardization of my God given skills.

Sometime during my travels, I encountered another humanoid race, one that was remarkably intelligent, and who bore a striking resemblance to me. To me, it seemed as if modern day humans sprung from these people.

Without a common language, our initial meeting strained all of us. Eventually, we would all learn to speak amongst each other. I learned that the race of people called themselves the Children of the Sky, and that they were a deeply religious people. This was also the first time that I encountered the religion that spawned the Code and Geass powers.

The leader of the Sky Children, Lur, recognized the presence of a Code in my body, and directed me towards their Shaman, the immortal known as Vey. Meeting her was an enlightening experience. I had not known any other immortals save for C.C., V.V., and my father, and so did not know what to expect. Every other immortal that I had ever encountered were always so flawed and selfish that I was not expecting much from the Shaman, and yet, Vey took my doubts and turned them on their head.

Vey was quiet, thoughtful, and very wise. She was also older physically then both C.C. and V.V., but younger then my father. She was quite sincere about her thoughts, never editing anything and giving the truth whenever it came to mind. It was refreshing.

Through Vey I learned the history of Code, Geass, and the human race. That God had touched the Sky Children and changed them from their barbaric brethren in the wilds, and that the existence of Code and Geass was the last gift left by the creator.

I spent many years with the Sky Children, never in a hurry to leave, and, understandably, in that time I grew very fond of Vey. Her honest, unassuming nature was very different then C.C., Kallen's, or even Nunnally's personalities, and I could not help the emotions that sprung up between us.

Fifty here after I arrived in the Children of the Sky's city, I finally married Vey. We lived happily for many years, not even bothered by our sterility, until the unthinkable happened.

A fully matured Geass can steal a Code, and despite my perseverance to protect Vey from harm, I could not be everywhere at once. A hundred years after our marriage Vey had the unfortunate luck of being cornered by one of her "children" who possessed a fully matured geass, and had her Code stolen. Though she was never killed by the man, our time together was now limited because an immortal cannot have their code returned once it is stolen. When I finally learned of this knowledge I raged, and nothing anyone did could stop me. I hunted the idiot down and captured him, letting my fury compel me to do many atrocities until Vey found me again and calmed me. She had already forgiven the idiot for his sins, and forbid me from continuing to punish him. Nevertheless, that did not stop the Sky Children from punishing him. After several centuries, they finally released the immortal idiot. However, by then Vey had already died of old age and I had grieved for many years. Nevertheless, strangely, there was an unseen benefit to this tragedy.

Apparently, while a normal immortal was sterile, I was not.

It came as a shock to us both when, after three years of worry and pain, a swell of happiness entered our lives. Vey was pregnant with my child, and nine months later she gave birth to a pair of twins. I named my newborn daughters after my sisters Nunnally and Euphemia in the language of the Sky Children.

Some happiness was in order to balance all the bad in my life, and so not five years later Vey became with child, again.

Soon, a big family surrounded me. In addition, even after the city of the Children of the Sky, Atlantis fell into the sea and the survivors had flocked to the far reaches of the planet, I still kept watch of my bloodline.

Generations and generations passed, and the tale of the Children of the Sky became myth, helped along by my actions to force the world to forget them, and the dangers of Code, Geass, and the now long forgotten Thought Elevators.

Originally used to communicate with the dead and God, I made sure that they would be forgotten until this world's version of my father could find it. In addition, sometime during all that manipulation, my children had spread to all corners of the Earth and interbred with the local humanoids until the modern day humans were born and intermingled freely. A touch of irony covered my life then, brought upon by the knowledge that I had unintentionally fathered the human race.

The years from there were mostly a blur. Immortals and geass users came and went, causing great changes in the power base of the planet. Most of history remained the same and did not require my attention, though a few things needed my meticulous handling. Particularly, making sure that C.C. was in the right place at the right time to draw the attention of her contractor so that her life could be set in motion. That was difficult, though – after all these years I can freely say that I had feelings for the future-immortal, feelings that had never receded despite the many years that separated our meetings. Seeing C.C. as an abused slave and being unable to help took a lot of patience. At best, all I could really do was make sure she had enough food so that she had the strength to flee her oppressors and find her contractor. From there, her life became immensely easier, though I knew that that was only a prelude to the main event. After her contractor had forced her to take her code I approached her, and helpfully explained what this all meant for her.

My reach spread to all corners of the world. I saw to it that Greece triumphed in their darkest moment. I saw to it that Rome fell before the barbarian horde. I, who gave the Huns the knowledge and skills to overwhelm China, and I, who saw Japan breaking away from the mainland. I built the church, and saw the destruction of knowledge and the first days of the Dark Ages. I inspired the worship of life, and the first days of the renaissance. I gave Brittan the knowledge to defeat the "Americans" and stop the revolution in its tracks, thereby preceding the creation of the Brittannian Empire. Moreover, it was my own actions that saw Brittannia lose the homeland to the Germens in the Second World War, giving my own father the motivation to seek out a way to kill God.

Yes, it was all me. Sometime during the course of my long life I had played the part of both hero and villain – my own actions would see that events in this reality happened as they occurred in my own.

However…I could not plan for everything.

On the night of December 5, 2000 A.T.B., I found myself standing in a lonely, cramped security room in the midst of Aries Villa, masquerading as a guard. The other guards ignored me, cracking jokes and just generally being unmindful to the events going on currently in the house. Nevertheless, my focus was on the tiny row of black and white monitors. There was no sound, but I did not need any to know what was going on.

Charles zi Brittannia was pacing in front of the door to his consort's room, an uncharacteristically worried expression on his face. Despite having gone through a similar event as what was currently going on in the room several times already, Charles was showing an almost obsessive worry for his fifth consort and his unborn child.

I knew why this was, though. Despite his many faults, Charles _had_ loved Marianne vi Brittania, ne Lamperogue, enough that such concerns were warranted. It was just so startling to see my father so vulnerable and…human.

Suddenly, the door opened and the midwife stepped out, a smile tugging at her lips. Charles instantly turned to her, eyes wide with worry.

"Is…she alright?" Charles asked. I did not actually hear him speak, but I could read his lips.

"Yes," the midwife nodded with a happy glow on her face. "She managed to pull through without any trouble. And the baby is doing fine as well…" Charles glanced distractedly towards the room, a note of fondness in his gaze.

"Very well," Charles drew himself up, collecting his regal image once more, "It is safe for me to enter, correct?" he moved to the door, waiting for confirmation. The midwife nodded.

"Yes," the woman smiled, motioning to the door, "Your wife is eager to show you to your daughter, after all…"

With that, I knew that somehow, some_way_ I had invariably screwed up.

"Well, shit…"

To Be Continued…

AN: Plot twist! Yay!

Honestly, it was a spur of the moment decision in Chapter 1 to go ahead and make a female-version of Lelouch in the story like wolfblood wanted. In the end, I went with it, because I was curious how both versions of Lelouch will react to each other.

My question is, would anyone want to see canon-(male)-Lelouch in a relationship with his fanon-(female)-self? Possibly in a harem?

Just a thought.

Anyways, as always, leave a review with your thoughts and tell me what you think!

Ta.

Professor Image.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Code Geass. Sunrise entertainment owns the Code Geass anime and any other source materials. I have made no monetary gain off this story. I wrote this story for entertainment purposes only. Please do not sue.

Disclaimer #2: wolfblood123's challenge idea was what inspired the production of this story. Therefore, the original idea belongs to him. He has agreed to let me write this story, so I decided to go ahead and go for it. If you have any questions, please PM him or me.

Summary: "Life sucks. Then you die." "If only it were that simple." AN: Not your usual time travel, AU-fic!

Code Immortal: Lelouch of the Ageless

Verse III

"You didn't think it would be that easy?"

XXX

My fingers were dancing across the gunmetal gray surface, picking apart the handgun distractedly. I was busy watching the goings on of the Aries Villa courtyard while trying to keep an eye out for any guards alerted to my presence.

It has been roughly six years since the birth of my alternate self, a female that my mother named Lelu, which brought about its own headaches. Just to be safe, I had spent all that time catching up on the facts, filling all the loose holes where my memory and this world's history did not match. For one, I was never born a _female_. Another, I never had a sister named Marrybell mel Britannia, and if I remembered my own original history right, the mel Britannia bloodline was composed of Consort Mabel mel Britannia and her son, my younger brother and 19th heir to the throne, Mathias mel Britannia. Finally, and most tiresome problem that I have encountered thus far is that I had never been betrothed to my brother Clovis.

That is understandable, really. Originally, if things had not snow balled as they had, I would have been married to both my sister Euphemia li Britannia and my childhood friend Milly Ashford. Arranged marriages were common in the Britannian royal court. My double marriage would not have been surprising at all. The nobility considered it a right and a duty to take multiple wives. Therefore, to hear that Clovis was to marry my female self as well as Euphemia was not so surprising. It was only surprising that they chose Clovis at all.

Clovis was not even on the same league as my female self. Clovis was pompous and self-important, and he never formed the same levels of friendship with my female self as he had with me. In fact, my female self, Lelu, considered the boy a complete twit and was not at all impressed with him. No, the only male figure in her life that she was interested in marrying was Schneizel, who was the only nobility capable of matching and even surpassing her genius in strategy.

Why my mother did not go for the obvious and logically sound choice for a marriage was anyone's guess; father would not have cared either way. Resigned to her fate, Lelu spent whatever time she could spare spoiling and plotting the course of her younger sister, Nunnally's life. Marriage was only one topic discussed. Displeased with the selection of nobility to choose Nunnally's husband from, Lelu made her displeasure known to all.

It was…curious, to see Cornelia taking on the role that Schneizel had taken for me in my original life, or how Euphemia filled the shoes of Clovis. It seemed like Lelu's whole life was a mirror image of my own.

I kept to myself, playing the part of a guard for Aries Villa, making sure that no one took advantage of the extremely lax security in the mansion. It was an interesting look at my own life, because a lot of the terrorist activity that had happened over the course of my own life in the courts was viewed through the eyes of a spectator and a sometimes hero. When all the other guards flopped around like idiots, their necks exposed to any would be terrorists; I was there to put a bullet through the infiltrator's skulls. In fact, I was so successful that I warranted the approval and respect of my own mother herself.

This was the first time that I had ever been thankful for the changes in my appearance. There was just enough Suzaku in my face that no one would be suspicious of my connection to the Emperor and Marianne the Flash. Even though no one was likely to guess my connection to my mother and father, I was thankful for the differences in our appearances all the same.

The biggest factor in my disguise was the fact that my eyes were the same blue of Suzaku Kururugi's eyes. There was not enough of Suzaku in my face to make me appear as anything but a Britannian, but there was enough to distance me from the royal bloodline.

My mother officially thanked me for protecting Lelu and Nunnally, and it took a lot of effort to keep a cool façade. The one hundred thousand plus years of social isolation had helped me craft an excellent poker face, but my hatred for my parents was so overpowering that it almost overwhelmed me. Even the knowledge that I had essentially filled an even bigger role as this world's villain was not enough to calm my errant emotions. Thankfully, no one noticed my slow, carefully controlled responses.

I kept away from my female self and Nunnally, taking a careful amount of time to study the girls and their relationship with their sisters. It seemed that Lelu was quite popular amongst her sisters, more than just Cornelia and Euphemia, too. Milly was also as chatty and brave as I remembered in my own childhood, except that her relationship with my female self was a lot more easy going and relaxed due to the fact that Milly did not have a crush on the girl. However, given Milly's particular tastes, I imagined that one day that would change, too.

During this time, my spy network was in full swing. I was always keeping constant tables on the eight other immortals and their "children" in the world, unwilling to let their actions escape my attention. I did not know yet what I wanted to do with all this knowledge, but I wanted to be prepared regardless.

In Britannia alone, there were three immortals, V.V. and C.C. being of those numbers. C.C. was in charge of the Geass Order, which I remembered from my own history with the emerald witch. She was lazy and a bit jaded, but she had her own virtues to go with her many faults. V.V., on the other hand, confined himself to his workshop underneath Pendragon, and only came out to work on the Thought Elevators.

The third immortal in Britannia was a loner and a vagabond, and like C.C. I had encountered him in my travels. He was a very paranoid man, and tended to run at any mention of geass and codes. He went by the acronym W.W.

Only two of the immortals in the world have I not spoken with personally. V.V. was one of them, and the other went by the name D.D. The European Union played host to two immortals, D.D. and a young woman known as M.M. The last three were in the Chinese Federation. The three immortals in the Chinese Federation along with W.W. in Britannia were the young men who inspired the legend of the Four Horsemen. From what I understand, D.D. inspired the legend of Dracula, and M.M. inspired the legend of Morgan le Fay.

C.C., from what I have gathered, understandably inspired the legend of the Goddess Aphrodite. In addition, V.V. was too young to have a myth based on his deeds, though his contractor before him, the immortal A.A., the same immortal who had stolen my Vey's code in the first place, inspired the tale of Ares, the God of War.

What mythological figure was I? That is an easy one: Lucifer.

Such is the irony of my life. That I would find myself branded with the title of the "Prince of Darkness" even in death. Like the Iliad, the Odyssey, Hamlet, Gilgamesh and Beowulf, it seemed that I was doomed to play the part of some tragic hero.

Now, I found myself overlooking the courtyard of Aries Villa, maintaining the cool and reassuring weight of my sidearm. Today was a big day for me, because I had heard "through the grapevine" that C.C. was planning on meeting with Lady Marianne vi Britannia today. This was a unique opportunity. With only a few minutes at the most to confront her, I needed to catch C.C. unawares after her meeting with my mother and before rejoining her guard.

Why that was, I could not say. It was tempting to let things occur as they would inevitably. V.V. was too much of a jealous child to let my mother take up Charles's attention for long, and then events would invariably follow as they had the first time. However, it struck me as a waste to let things occur as they had originally. Not only would Lelu find herself in a position of vulnerability, which was bad for a young girl to be in, but also Nunnally would again be crippled and blinded once more. I knew that I could not allow this to happen in good conscience.

The question then became "What did I want to do about it?"

I did not know, but something was forming in the back of my mind, spurred on by my desire to confront C.C. a second time in her life.

As I stood there, watching the children play in the courtyard and waiting for C.C. and mother to remove themselves from the mansion, and epiphany struck me.

Why _should_ I leave things as they are? Why should I squander the very generous gift that I have been given? It was not as if events could occur as my original lifetime. Lelu being born a girl was proof of that. So what more was there for me to do?

It had never occurred to me to entertain selfish thoughts, but I found myself wondering what I could make of this world. I still wanted to bring peace to this world, but I also wanted my own little bit of happiness in that as well. The question was…how to make it so?

At the plan circling inside my head, I could not help smiling.

XXX

C.C. said her goodbyes to Marianne the Flash, only pausing to regard the happy forms of the Lady's children playing about on the courtyard. A touch of wistfulness overwhelmed the witch, and she closed her eyes to steady herself against the errant thoughts.

She did not like visiting Marianne. It reminded her of a life from long ago, of long buried pains that still kept her up at night and forced her to seek solace out of any obsession that struck her fancy. To C.C., it seemed as if Marianne had everything that she had ever wanted, not only possessing the ability to one day die, but also love of a whole family and the respect of her peers. Yet, Marianne was willing to give all that up, driven mad by Charles's obsession.

C.C. knew why she wanted the Sword of Akasha to succeed. It meant that she could finally rest in peace. The destruction of the barrier to the collective consciousness of humankind meant many things to her. The most obvious reason was that she would finally get to rest. The other was that the rest of humanity would finally understand and accept her without question.

C.C. knew that she had a lot of baggage, all left over from the betrayal of her contractor and her previous life as a slave. Even the knowledge that she was not alone in her immortality was no comfort; none of the other immortals cared to remain in each other's presence for long. Faced with these facts, C.C. had drawn into her shell and never returned, refusing to expose her vulnerable side for fear of pain and anguish.

Everyone loved Marianne, who was as sure and prideful of herself as a woman could be. She could likely convince Charles not to pursue his obsession anymore, and yet she wasted her happiness away on a half-imagined dream of world peace.

Nevertheless, beggars cannot be choosers. C.C. was relying heavily on Marianne, both as a means of support so that she could pursue her own goals, and as a possible inheritor of her will. Out of all her "Children" Marianne was the closest to come to awakening her geass to its maximum potential that would allow the Knight of Two to take C.C.'s code and allow C.C. finally to say goodbye to this world. C.C. was just tired enough that she would take a premature exit then none at all.

Standing in the courtyard of Aries Villa, C.C. reflected on the life that never was, before shaking her melancholy aside and retreating from the mansion. Her path took her under the archway of the courtyard, disappearing around the winding path that circled back to the main gates and rain parallel with the woodland surrounding the estate. She was so lost in thought that she barely reacted as a shadow pulled up behind her to grasp at her shoulders.

C.C. spun at the sudden touch, spinning and delivering an instinctive punch at the man's side. However, the man brushed her strike away with a casual motion of his hands, and stepped up into her personal space.

A knee into her side dropped her, and the man grabbed her round the neck and pressed her ear to his lips.

"Easy, love, I do not want to hurt you," the man whispered, ushering her down the hall and into a supply closet. C.C. wrestled with his grasp, frightened despite her calm façade. This scene was all too familiar for the immortal, and never got any easier. If she was lucky, she could probably fight him off enough to escape or to bring attention to her plight.

The man tossed her into the room, and stepped in behind her. Without a backwards glance, he shut and locked the door, before crossing his arms and giving her an even look.

"We need to talk," the man stated, and C.C. finally managed to find the strength to look up into his face. Her mouth fell open, surprised despite herself at the identity of the man. She had _never_ forgotten him, despite how hard she wished that she could.

The immortal L.L glared back at her, and she refused to believe it.

To Be Continued…

AN: That is the third chapter.

A few things before we finish up. Some people might question C.C.'s reactions in the final scene, but it really DOES make sense. C.C. is an immortal _woman_ who is possibly several _thousand_ years old, and women's rights has only been a recent concept in the world. Hell, the concept of a female _orgasm_ is a recent concept. When you take into account how men in the dark ages treated women, and that C.C. possibly predates that, it makes sense that men have hurt C.C. both physically as well as emotionally, which fits into her character. In addition, yes, that is a reference to rape!

Sorry if that offends you, but it struck me as odd that so many writers have a rose-lens view of C.C.'s life before she met Lelouch. Truthfully, I would be surprised if the total men and women that have slept/violated C.C. are under a thousand. It is just an unpleasant fact, people. Bad things happen.

I am going to go out and say this right now, there will be NO rape/nonconsensual sex involved in this story, only the occasional _mention_ of it. I simply do not have the energy in me to wear kid gloves.

This story may or may not get rather dark; it depends on how I am feeling with it. Code DC is getting the majority of my energy, so this story is getting whatever remains. That is my honesty, people.

On another, happier note, I will be posting a poll of the girls and women to be in Lelouch's harem in a few days up on my profile, so definitely be on the lookout.

I suppose that is it.

Like always, review and leave me your thoughts.

Ta.

Professor Image.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Code Geass. Sunrise entertainment owns the Code Geass anime and any other source materials. I have made no monetary gain off this story. I wrote this story for entertainment purposes only. Please do not sue.

Disclaimer #2: wolfblood123's challenge idea was what inspired the production of this story. Therefore, the original idea belongs to him. He has agreed to let me write this story, so I decided to go ahead and go for it. If you have any questions, please PM him or me.

Summary: "Life sucks. Then you die." "If only it were that simple." AN: Not your usual time travel, AU-fic!

Code Immortal: Lelouch of the Ageless

Verse IV

"Memories don't lie."

XXX

A biting cold filled her bones when next Cercia awoke.

There was someone next to her, and from the feel of their rough, large hands, she knew them to be a man. He was doing something to her, leaving a wet trail of cold water across her cream-colored skin. Cercia felt a knot dread well up in her breast when half-forgotten nightmares sprung to the forefront of her mind…

"I know that you are awake, Cercia," an intelligent, musical voice interrupted her thoughts. It was the voice of a king, and Cercia found herself to be embarrassed despite herself and her fear. A glance through partially opened eyelids showed that the man was calmly staring at her face, while his hands continued to brush a wet cloth across her body.

"Who…w-who are you?" Cercia asked as she opened her eyes. Both gold and striking blue met each other, her panicked gaze melting into the steely calm of the man's eyes.

"I am…L.L." The man explained simply, tilting his head thoughtfully as if he had suddenly decided on something. Cercia felt a fresh wave of panic sweep over her, and began frantically searching the room for an exit. Cercia discovered that the room they were in was her old room, given to her by her contractor years ago. The only means of escape would be through this man.

Hurriedly forgotten memories of the last horror in her life played in the back of her eyes. Cercia found herself reliving the moment where her contractor, the immortal nun S.S. betrayed her, tearing her clothing off her and stabbing her repeatedly in her chest and stomach. It had been all Cercia could do but to steal S.S.'s code, and then she had had to watch as the former immortal slit her own throat and sprayed the girl down with her blood. This sight had finally made Cercia faint, leaving her body to heal the damage left behind by S.S.'s rage.

Her body was shaking when she came out of her memories, and she realized that she could taste the salt of her tears. Mortified, Cercia turned her face away from the man, staring out her bedroom's window stoically.

"It never gets any easier," L.L. remarked thoughtfully, and a glance showed that he had not taken his eyes off her face. "Loving someone, and then they turn on you…" he finally turned away from her, and moved to her bedside which was home to the only possessions from her old life as a slave that she had managed to save. His long fingers plucked up one of the silver coins on the desk, inspecting it thoughtfully.

"W-what…" she finally opened her mouth to speak, tempted by his strange confession, "w-w-what…do y-you mean?" she tried stilling her voice, but the fear was still there, waiting in the background. How could she not be afraid? Seeing the man as he was, in profile, brought up memories of earlier years when she had gotten a glimpse of him in the town square or milling about in the church.

The villagers were deeply afraid of him – most thought him either a warlock or a demon. Even her now dead contractor, S.S. was afraid of him. She had lost count about how many times that the woman had fiercely told her not to been tempted by his good looks and go seeking him out; and her understanding that this man was different became certainty when he didn't look for her because of her geass. In fact, it almost seemed as if he was avoiding her and her contractor.

Whereas others in the village and beyond sought her out to worship and adore her, even going so far as to start referring to her as the 'reincarnation' of the goddess of love, Aphrodite, this man had stood in the distance, and refused to look her way.

The man's fingers were moving expertly across the coin, winding it through his grip quickly, so that the coin seemed to dance at his fingertips. His back was to her, as if he did not suspect that she would run, or that he could catch her if she did. His shoulders were tense with suppressed anger, strong and wide. If he turned to her, Cercia knew that she would find cool violence on his face, his blue eyes dancing with hate.

Finally, the man deigned to speak, answering her almost forgotten question with a thoughtful sound in his voice.

"I have lived a long time, child. Long enough to regret being born, and even longer, so that every experience is now new to me, again…" he trailed off, setting the coin back on the desk, and turned to her. "Evil pervades all the hearts of man; it is a fact of life. Women are just as prone to it as well and equally capable of turning on you…"

"But…w-why…why would s-s-she?" she stuttered, desperately wanting an answer to her question. A dark looked cross the man's eyes, and he turned now to the window, clever eyes seeing things she obviously could not.

"At a certain point in an immortal's life, everything becomes too much and you just…give up," he shrugged, giving a disgusted smile. "Too much bad and not enough good piles up, and you cannot help wishing for death."

"She…wanted to die?" Cercia tried to understand. The man laughed bitterly.

"Yes, quite," he turned back to her, arching an eyebrow speculatively. "Though, having lived through something similar, I know that it eventually gets better. You become…adjusted to the bad, and then all that is a problem is the constant…boredom," he regarded her with interest, before shaking whatever thought was on his mind away.

A hopeless expression crossed Cercia's face, and she could not help asking, "Did she ever really love me?"

"Perhaps," said L.L., turning back to her to examine her with keen eyes. He thoughtfully touched his chin, with a note of pondering and carefully constructed theories on his face, "But if she did, then somewhere down the line she became too concerned with her own desires to truly love you…"

A pain welled up in Cercia's breast, almost forgotten on the tides of memories. She felt fresh tears building at the corners of her eyes, but she stubbornly held them back.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Cercia questioned dismally. She gave a hiccup, wiping at her face. "She was everything that I had!" she exclaimed.

Having been born a slave, Cercia's masters had planned every moment of her life for her. The closest that she had come to taking control of her life was the decision to run. When she had met S.S., the immortal had taken the reigns of her life from her and let her live in luxury, while also planning every moment in her life. Cercia did not know how to be independent, because she had never had the chance to be except for the brief year outside of someone's control, and that had shown her that she was not capable of taking care of herself.

The man was watching her with an indifferent expression on his face, as if he was unwilling to give her a glimpse into his mind. Then, casually, he went to one of her dressers and fetched a long robe, and covered her with it.

"The essence of adulthood is responsibility," the man told her, patting her shoulders comfortingly. "You will learn how to take care of yourself, that, I can guarantee," he stated. He took a step back, judging her with heavy eyes, before taking a seat in a nearby chair. "Especially now that you have a code…"

Cercia sat heavily on her bed, placing her head into her hands as the word circled inside her brain. She had heard S.S. briefly mention it several times in the past, but never received a proper explanation. Meeting this man was bringing many completely unwanted memories to the forefront of her mind.

"W-what," Cercia exclaimed loudly.

"A code," L.L. reiterated, and a glance showed that he had crossed his legs and placed his hands into his lap as he coolly regarded her. "Well, a code is essentially a unique power gifted to humans by the gods…or what amounts to them, anyways," Cercia's head snapped up in alarm at his casual explanation. The man narrowed his eyes.

"Gods, w-w-what," Cercia stumbled. The man nodded.

"For instance, I," L.L. placed a hand onto his chest, smiling with faint bitterness, "You might have noticed that I use the initials "L" and "L" as a name, just as your now dead contractor did. That is a little tradition amongst us immortals." He then waved to her, saying, "You, for instance, should be called C.C., yes?"

Cercia placed a hand atop her chest in alarm, stuttering, "I-I-I'm i-immortal?"

"Quite right," L.L. nodded easily. He gave a hapless, unmindful shrug, an ironic smile on his lips. "The only way that you _can_ die is if someone with a geass were to steal your code, which is what makes you immortal. The ones that have the easiest time stealing codes are those people that you form a contract with and give a geass yourself."

"What," she wondered.

"Yes, you now have the ability of giving people a geass yourself," L.L. shrugged, a melancholy expression on his face. "The knowledge to do so is instinctual. You will probably find yourself accidentally forming a contract with someone in the next few years. Furthermore, your previous geass is gone because the code overwhelms it and takes over your body. But your code gives you its own powers as well…"

"What do you mean?" Cercia questioned, with a note of trepidation in her breast.

"Honestly, have you ever wondered why the villagers refer to me as a warlock?" so saying, the immortal man raised his right hand, palm open, and a fireball appeared in its center. "Of course, it is very difficult to access the powers that our codes give us. Most of us do not even learn of the powers until several hundred years after our creation, and then for those that do, most only have access to a few mental powers, like very limited telepathy and the ability to invoke sensations of immense pleasure and pain in people." He waved his hand, putting out the fire. Then he gave a shrug, an uneasy smile on his face. "Geass was only a very small aspect of the contract – the codes are so much _more_."

"On another note," said L.L., leaning back in the chair and eying her interestedly, "geass does not work on anyone with a code, so you have nothing to fear about _that_," at his words, Cercia gave a shudder of fear. She had been a slave after all, so she knew what the people in power would likely do with an attractive woman. Her master before she had met S.S. had been such a man, so she had gone through a similar situation herself. Just the reminder of it made her skin crawl with shame and disgust. "Well, no more so than usual… The problem is, though, that anyone with a fully matured geass can steal a code."

The man leaned back towards her, placing his chin on his hands, saying, "There are eight codes in this world, and every one of them is fiercely fought over by those in the know…that is why most contractors refuse to tell their 'children' about the codes. But the knowledge is not as completely hidden as you would think." He smiled, faintly. "It gets out, and those with geass invariably go searching for a code of their own…"

"There are only eight codes in this world, to go with the eight 'Thought Elevators' throughout the world," he explained. He tilted his head slightly, watching Cercia's actions with cautious eyes, and then nodded. "The closest one to this location and the one that your code is bound to is Stonehenge," at this mention, Cercia's eyes widened considerably.

"The Thought Elevators are a means that the ancients employed to speak with the dead and the gods," at this, if it were at all possible, Cercia's eyes widened even further. "However, to enter the Thought Elevators, one needs a certain 'key', which is what the codes are…" he looked to her meaningfully.

Cercia clenched her hands tightly, absorbing everything that she had heard so far. When she next opened them, she found that L.L. was examining her intently.

"Please….h-h-help me."

XXX

Returning from her memories, C.C. eyed the other immortal intently. She could never forget their first meeting, or how he had directed her towards the care of another immortal, a Chinese princess worshipped as a goddess. She could never forget the fact that he had virtually set up the first two hundred years of her life so that she would learn the skills to take care of herself; or the fact that he had disappeared nearly as soon as he had dumped her onto the immortal princess, Y.Y.'s doorstep.

Now he was standing before her with an unrepentant expression on his face, his stance confident, and his smile easy. She took a breath and let it out slowly to calm herself.

"What do you want?" she questioned. His smile widened, becoming something truly frightening. Then he spoke.

"You've been a _very_ bad girl, Cercia…"

To Be Continued…

AN:

It is another day, and another chapter.

Yes, most of this chapter was a flashback. There was a few things discussed in the previous chapter that, if left alone would present a continuity error, so I decided to incorporate a flashback not only to address those and explain them, but also to show a younger, more vulnerable C.C., because I always liked C.C.'s personality from when she was a slave. There were not as many barriers up around her heart that one had to go through to understand her.

Next chapter will finally be the confrontation between C.C. and Lelouch, and we will finally get to see Lelouch changing the timeline, and for the better or worse remains to be seen. Suffice to say, Lelouch is going to have to work hard for his happy-ending (or not so much, since he will _never_ end).

Someone (I will not name names) asked how Lelouch could be the father of the human race, and _that_ takes a bit of explanation. Essentially, biology and history show that humans are a composition of various humanoid races that eventually evolved and interbred to make modern day humans. I am going off the fact that Lelouch is technically a modern day human, that the "Sky Children", while similar enough to humans to interbred with, are not technically humans, and that the other ice age humanoid races are not technically humans, either. Thus, when Lelouch impregnates Vey in Chapter 2 and they start their family, it changes the Sky Children just enough that they are more like Lelouch. Then, these descendants of Lelouch breed with the other humanoid species once Atlantis falls, thus spreading their gene pool throughout the world and essentially creating modern day humans. That was how Lelouch could become the "Father" of the human race.

Anyways, as to harems and the like, I cannot say right now. One of my biggest problems is that I _hate_ harems, but that I always seem to write about them. There are reasons for this, but I will not go into them.

What I would really like to do is pair Lelouch up with Cornelia, who I have an uber crush on. However, no one else appreciates the pairing as I do. Moreover, C.C. and Kallen are just as likeable as characters and people that I also want to pair Lelouch with them.

I have decided to wait and see what people think. Should I write Lelouch's pairing as a harem, or not?

Depending on how many people are pro-harem or con-harem will determine whether I write the pairing as a harem. I will be posting a poll about this on my profile eventually, so be on the lookout for that. However, if you want, you can voice your interests either in a review or PM until the poll is up on my profile.

I guess that is everything.

As always, leave a review and tell me your thoughts.

Ta.

Professor Image.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Code Geass. Sunrise entertainment owns the Code Geass anime and any other source materials. I have made no monetary gain off this story. I wrote this story for entertainment purposes only. Please do not sue.

Disclaimer #2: wolfblood123's challenge idea was what inspired the production of this story. Therefore, the original idea belongs to him. He has agreed to let me write this story, so I decided to go ahead and go for it. If you have any questions, please PM him or me.

Summary: "Life sucks. Then you die." "If only it were that simple." AN: Not your usual time travel, AU-fic!

Code Immortal: Lelouch of the Ageless

Verse V

"You know better than that!"

XXX

C.C. narrowed her eyes, now deeply incensed by the other immortal's attitude and daring. L.L. was smirking; a smirk that said that he had all the cards in his hand and intended to use them. Slowly, purposely, he crossed his muscled arms over his chest and leaned easily against the doorframe.

"Is that it?" C.C. growled, wondering if she could smash her fist into his throat hard enough to cripple him until he inevitably healed. She could escape then, but, more importantly, she could show him what she _thought_ of his attitude. "You come all this way to talk to me, and the best you can say is that I have been naughty?" a hysterical laugh spilt from her lips.

The emerald witch could not help her uncharacteristic reaction. This…_man _was there in her most vulnerable moment, and _left_ her! Of course, he could get under her skin! She had been dealing with so much baggage over the years from his abandonment that this kind of reaction was expected.

Despite her intentions to berate him furiously, C.C. felt hot tears gathering at her eyes, repressed emotions rising in the back of her throat. Raging against her and him, C.C. stalked across the short distance between them and slapped him across the face…_hard_.

L.L.'s smug face turned slightly, the only reaction to her strike. His brilliantly blue eyes continued to defy her and her wounds, his lips widening further over his teeth, exposing an impish smile so terrifying that lesser men might have cowed before it. C.C. stared defiantly back at him, knowing it was hopeless to appear intimidating when her eyes were currently swimming with tears.

Years of unanswered questions and feelings of self-doubt swelled suddenly in her breast, so that when her lips opened it rushed out in one word.

"Why?"

For an instance, the warlock's confidence seemed to waver on his face. His muscles unintentionally twitched, becoming something like a frown. His eyes dulled with years and years of memories. Then, like a switch, almost if it had never been, L.L.'s expression returned to fiendish amusement.

"When you get to be my age, it gets hard to see the forest from the trees," was his cryptic answer. C.C. found herself shortly overwhelmed by his oceanic gaze. She felt her breath stilling as her eyes widened, taking in the depths of thousands of years of repressed sorrow in a single instant. For a singular moment he let his guard down as she drank in the effects that a life lived longer then her own could have on a person.

Twisted and mangled by constant pain, the man inside his body, his very essence, his soul, was a tortured, withered husk of his former self. The man looking back at her was older than any man should have the right to be…and yet he still stood, standing despite his weariness.

C.C.'s mouth opened. She did not react as L.L. reached towards her and ran a long finger across her bottom lip, wearing a suddenly thoughtful expression on his face.

"You know – I can see why the modern interpretation of the Goddess Venus is based on you," his lips widened in a smile, obviously very aware of a likely interpretation of those words. "You are very beautiful…" he complimented.

C.C. noted the touch of wistfulness in his voice, as if he was remembering a fond friend, or something…else. Self-conscious now, C.C. brushed his hand aside hurriedly, trying to rid herself of the confusing man.

"How can you be like that?" C.C. questioned, stepping back to put some space between her and the man that truly frightened her. "Change gears like that?"

L.L. chuckled, once more crossing his arms over his chest and giving her a meaningful look. He seemed to be debating what to tell her. Considering that immortals like them tended to horde secrets like dead skin, well, there was probably a lot to tell.

"You get used to micromanaging when you have commanded well over a hundred armies to victory…" a smirk took over his face, and C.C. realized that he was very proud of his ability to strategize. The admittance of this fact made C.C. aware of just how dangerous this man was. A quick check across his form showed that he had at the very least five different weapons on his person, two handguns, two knives, and a final, cylindrical object that was familiar to her, but that she could not quite place.

C.C. quickly ran inventory on the room – being confident in Britannia's ability to protect her had left her in a bad position. She did not have a weapon on herself to speak of…

"Here," L.L. casually said, tossing something her way. As C.C. caught the object, she felt shock roll through her as she realized what it was.

"W-what?" she stumbled, grasping to understand why he would give her _this_, "What the hell are you playing at!" L.L. gave an uncaring shrug.

"What?" he questioned, as if his reasons were obvious. "It was not like you would feel comfortable without a weapon to defend yourself, would you?" he taunted. C.C. ground her teeth at the very rational rage that she felt from hearing his reasoning. He was either mocking her…or…?

"And what is to stop me from shooting you and placing you under arrest? I am sure that Charles and V.V. would very much appreciate having another immortal to experiment on," she pointed out, raising her newly claimed gun to point his way. L.L. smiled patronizingly.

Stalking towards her, L.L. eyes watched her carefully, daring her to pull the trigger. When he finally stopped moving, the barrel of the handgun was resting against his collar, a tempting target to put him down.

"So what is stopping you?" he mocked.

C.C. was _very_ tempted to go through with it. He had essentially given her the means to escape safely and without any danger to herself. Moreover, it was not as if he was reaching for his own weapon. Nevertheless, his confidence unsettled her, as if he did not suspect that she could, or _would_ pull the trigger, or that if she was going to that he could stop her easily.

Finally, after several moments on debating whether to attempt it, C.C. lowered the gun.

L.L. watched her actions, and when the gun was safely at her side, he suddenly ripped the holster on his leg off and knelt next to her. She resisted the urge to flinch away from his touch, and waited as he slowly, methodically wrapped the holster over her leg and tightened the straps. Then, confident that it would hold, L.L. gave a pleased nod and slowly pulled the gun from her limp fingers and placed it into the holster at her thighs.

"There," he said, finally standing and turning his eyes back to her face. "A woman can never been _too_ cautious…" As if to prove a point, he took an exaggerated step out of her personal space, allowing her to take a few calming breaths.

C.C.'s heart pounded in her ears. Emotions were rushing through her body like a hurricane, fear and arousal and a little curiosity blending and confusing her to the point that she felt suddenly fatigued enough to lie down and take a catnap.

"How can you do this to me," her voice sounded strangely pleading in her own ears, and she could not help hating herself for the show of weakness that this man invoked. "You never even…"

C.C. tried to grasp at some emotion that she could use to insert control over this situation, something that she severely lacked and desperately wanted. She caught the other immortal's gaze, but could not hold it, turning her head away in self-disgust.

"I was an idiot," L.L. finally deigned to say, giving a sigh of long standing regret. "I let myself fall into a trap of non-interference, so much so that I let good people suffer to accomplish a distant vision of what _could_ be…" he trailed off, and a glance showed that he was quietly gazing at the wall, his eyes distant with long repressed memories and sorrows.

The temptation to pull the gun that he gave her and splatter the older immortal's brains onto the wall was nearly overpowering. Nevertheless, eventually she decided against it. Something inside her was drawn to this man, whoever he may be and whatever his intentions. She could not help _wanting_ him to have a benign reason for his actions.

"There is more at stake here than just your desire to die, C.C.," L.L. finally returned his attention to her. He arched an eyebrow, smiling. "If you continue on your course then a lot of people will be hurt…I…I cannot allow that," he shut his eyes against the thought, took a deep breath and let it out. When he opened his eyes, they locked gazes once more. "Besides, if all you wanted was to die, then why have you not pulled something like your old contractor?"

C.C.'s eyes widened at his explanation, suddenly overwhelmed by an irrational fear at the mere mention of her predecessor. Even after over a thousand years to rationalize and address her baggage, she was still dealing with repressed emotions from when she became an immortal.

He nodded, as if he saw something in her reaction that she could not. He gave a smile, and stepped back into her personal space, almost as if he had _won_ the right to do so!

"The way I see it, your greatest wish is not to die, _Cercia_, but something _else_," his voice lowered, full of dark promises that she just _knew_ that she could not flirt with. This man was _dangerous_, and was old enough to play on the vices and insecurities of even other _immortals_. The kind of experience and corruption needed for that kind of knowledge was staggering. Haphazardly entering a relationship of _any_ kind with this man, romantic, platonic, or business was a fool's endeavor.

"Who is to say that I cannot give you what you _really_ want?" he questioned with a smirk on his lips. His head tilted towards her, and C.C. felt herself reacting instinctively to his presence, arching, lips opening to greet him.

"-it has been fifteen minutes since we last heard from C.C., I want this whole house searched!" a voice shouted, growing closer with the thunder of boots on the wood floors of the mansion. At this noise, C.C. jerked away, startled, but L.L. was already moving, pulling her around so that her back was facing the door, and hiding his face in shadows. For a second, his reaction startled C.C., unable to make sense of it, which was when he spoke.

"If they think I'm a danger to you and the vi Britannia's, then I'll have to kill them," he pressed her to his hard body, tilting his head down to brush his nose against hers, "So do not give me a reason to. Kiss me…"

And despite not giving a damn about her guard, despite not caring if this man's cover was blown, or even that she was still furious about this insufferable idiot, C.C. found herself pressing against him and moaning as his mouth devoured hers, determined despite herself to put on the best show that she could.

Then the door was bursting open, and someone gasped, "Miss C.C.?" and she found hands prying them apart. They rushed her out of the room, her glancing back to find that one of her guards had a gun to L.L's throat and was demanding why he was snogging with her. The immortal must have had a career in acting at some point in his long life, because he wore a believably sheepish expression, cheeks red with apparent mortification and embarrassment as he kept his hands raised helplessly.

"Are you alright, Miss C.C.?" the captain of the guard questioned, keeping an eye on her assailant. C.C. turned to him with expressionless eyes, arching an eyebrow. "What did he do to you?"

Once more tempted to hurt the man, this time by telling the truth, a wave of curiosity and empathy struck her then. She regarded the immortal being interrogated with cool eyes, locking gazes with him when he looked her way…and then she knew.

"Nothing," she smiled faintly, realizing then that he would owe her a favor for this act of kindness, one that she would make sure that he would pay…one day. "Nothing at all; I'm the one who seduced _him_," and for some reason as she said the words, she could not help but feel as if in some way, shape or form, as crazy as it sounded, that she _had_.

"Are you sure, Miss?" the captain questioned, glancing back to the youthful looking immortal. C.C. smiled, breaking eye contact with L.L. as she looked to her captain.

"Yes – now let him go," she ordered. In short order she watched as her guard ushered the mysterious immortal L.L. out of sight, probably to give a minor interrogation before letting him go.

"This way, Miss," the captain urged, leading her away from the mansion. C.C. found her limo waiting for her, circled by her customary ring of guards on motorcycles. Gratefully, C.C. settled back into the backseat, and closed her eyes to ward off the sudden weariness that assaulted her now that she was out of L.L.'s aggravating presence.

The door shut, and the driver settled into the front seat. Soon they were heading down the street to return to one of Pendragon's branches of the Geass Order.

C.C. allowed herself to relax, her eyes flickering behind her eyelids as she reviewed everything that had happened so far that day. From meeting with Marianne to go over the possibility of giving one of her children a geass in the unlikely case that Marianne was either killed or died, to meeting with L.L. and all the emotions and memories it brought back to the forefront of her mind.

C.C. stuffed her hands into her pants pockets, opening her eyes to look out the window. However, pressure at the tips of her fingers alerted her to an oddity on her person. The witch fetched the slip of paper out of her pocket and flipped it open, eyes drinking in the neat script displayed on its stark white surface. Quite clearly written across the blank scrap were three simple words:

_As you wish._

In that instant, C.C. realized that nothing would ever be the same again.

XXX

Even as C.C.'s guards questioned me about why C.C. and I were together in that broom closet, I wore a smile from ear to ear. I knew C.C. enough; both her younger, more vulnerable persona, and her older, more confident persona, that I now knew that I could get her on my side. It was only a matter of time and effort.

It was only a matter of time…starting from the moment she read my note…

To Be Continued…

AN:

I suppose that I need to give a plausible explanation for C.C.'s reactions in this chapter.

Well, essentially, Lelouch is an immortal with well over a hundred thousand years of experience. When you are that old, you…learn things. Because when you are immortal, all you have is time, and you seek to fill that time with as many experiences as you can.

Lelouch's ability to manipulate the emotions and actions of the people around him has grown due to exercising the ability for a majority of that time until it becomes almost instinctual. Even his understanding of the female mind and being able to manipulate any woman to do as he wishes has grown. Add to that his intimate knowledge of C.C.'s psyche, both learned from his original life and what he has learned from spying on her in this one helps those skills. The more he knows about a woman's personality the easier it is for him to manipulate them.

At this point in time, manipulating people is instinctual, and it is one of the personality faults of his that he will have to address at some point if he ever hopes to have a happily ever after.

C.C.'s reaction to him is a combination of her abandonment issues brought by him leaving her on Y.Y.'s doorstep with barely a backwards glance, the fact that he is an attractive man that seems to know every way to push her buttons, and the fact that he had caught her off guard. She simply does not have a defense to deal with him yet. She will address this in following meetings between them, now that she knows that he is watching.

Anyways, it might not seem as if a whole lot has changed in the plot in this chapter, but I can assure you that they are _massive_ changes. It is just of the subtle variety right now, and eventually those changes will become clear to all.

These early chapters are meant to build up the plot, so that little things add together to create massive changes in the Code Geass timeline. One of these changes is of course the introduce of Lelouch's alternate female self, Lelu, who is a product of events so random and numerous that not even Lelouch can trace back the point in the timeline that resulted in this change.

However, we have a while to go until we get to see these changes.

Finally, as to the pairings…I have finally put up a poll for this story on my profile. It is a simple question, whether or not you all want the pairing to be a harem. If enough people vote for harem, I will begin posting polls to decide on who will be in the harem. If people vote for a traditional monogamous relationship, then I will post a poll to determine which girl or woman gets Lelouch's heart.

I suppose that is all, for now.

As always, leave a review and tell me your thoughts.

Ta.

Professor Image.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Code Geass. Sunrise entertainment owns the Code Geass anime and any other source materials. I have made no monetary gain off this story. I wrote this story for entertainment purposes only. Please do not sue.

Disclaimer #2: wolfblood123's challenge idea was what inspired the production of this story. Therefore, the original idea belongs to him. He has agreed to let me write this story, so I decided to go ahead and go for it. If you have any questions, please PM him or me.

Summary: "Life sucks. Then you die." "If only it were that simple." AN: Not your usual time travel, AU-fic!

Code Immortal: Lelouch of the Ageless

Verse VI

"Reach out and touch faith."

XXX

Marianne had to die.

I knew this to be true from the moment I had made my decision to alter the timeline. Mother's death was such a central part to my own history, halting my father and my uncle's machinations as C.C. fled to the far corners of the world. She needed to die to set into motion many of my plans, plans that I was only beginning to conceive. I felt cheated, by myself, obviously. I should not have wasted so much time on hopeless pursuits if this reward was what I received.

Lost in my own fanatic remembrance of times long since passed, I had unintentionally become this world's villain…giving truth to my alias…

The Adversary…Satan…Lucifer…who am I?

For too long I have stayed my hand, fading into the shadows and manipulating the world with puppet strings and verse…no longer. Overcome with my self-loathing and the first vestiges of desires, of selfishness for the first time in thousands of years, I emboldened myself to my fate.

If I had to live in this world forevermore, then I will make this world my own. Unmolded by the designs of my prior experiences, I would shape a new edifice, a new idol for man to worship.

I dared to question God.

I dared to revolt.

I am ZERO!

XXX

"Are you so certain that she did not ask anything of you, Captain Lucifuge?" Marianne's question cut through the silence that had sprung up between them. The Lady was eying the soldier, one of her personal guard as he silently regarded her children in the courtyard.

"Hmm," Louis Lucifuge mumbled, seemingly distracted. Marianne could understand. At the mention of C.C., masquerading as a noble under the name of Cynthia, the man's attention had faded. It was obvious that his brief encounter with C.C. had affected him…but then again, C.C. had that effect with anyone.

Marianne politely gave him a second to collect himself, as she was more relaxed than the other consorts in her Lord's harem were. She remembered being in situations where she had to give reports about her own actions herself. She would not begrudge him the ability to collect his thoughts.

Finally, he nodded, catching her eye and holding a serious expression on his face.

"I'm sure, ma'am," was his answer. He held her gaze, and finally Marianne could not help smiling.

"Then you are dismissed," Marianne waved him away. Captain Louis Lucifuge hesitated a moment, before standing awkwardly and giving her a sharp salute.

"Ma'am!" he exclaimed, and she nodded, smiling.

With a casual wave of her hand, she sent the Captain away. Then she turned her thoughts inward even while her eyes took in the sight of her oldest competing against her "betrothed", Clovis la Britannia, though it was not so much a match as it was a study of stupidity. The boy was just not capable of military strategy, and the mechanics of chess eluded him. However, Lelu was determined in either stopping her marriage to the third prince or turning him into a man that she could be proud to call her husband. So far, it appeared as if it would be serve her to assassinate him in his sleep.

Marianne was not ignorant of the mechanics of royalty. Charles had given her a crash course in how the nobles operated, and what he did not cover was discussed intensely between her, Lord Ashford, and Lady li Britannia, her two biggest supporters.

That was why Marianne had chosen Clovis as her eldest daughter's future husband, because he was the simplest of Britannia's princes, and it would be relatively easy for Lelu to annul her marriage contract with the boy. As a princess in Britannia, she would hold no claim to the throne or any real power without marrying or having a marriage contract with either a noble or one of Britannia's princes. Moreover, since most of the nobles were a bunch of gold seekers and power launderer's, breaking out of a contract with a noble would be infinitely worse than breaking a contract with a prince. Her choice of Clovis as her daughter's future husband was a blessing, since he was already showing signs of infidelity and the contract had been set up so that if either of them lost their virginity before their wedding night then it would be invalid. This would free her daughter from the responsibility of marrying either a noble or a prince because she had kept her honor and fortitude where her "husband" could not.

Marianne placed aside her concerns for her daughter's future to muse about C.C.'s odd actions. While it was very rare for the immortal witch to take on a lover, she had done so from time to time. Even Marianne herself was unprepared for the shameless personality of the witch, having spent a single night in the immortal's bed a very long time ago when she was still young and impressionable.

C.C. could get under anyone's skin and make his or her blood boil. Marianne was certain that the emerald haired woman did not know of the effect that she had on members of both sexes. She could not blame Captain Lucifuge for his reaction to C.C. because she had been the same when the immortal had directed her golden cat eyes upon her all those years ago.

No, what was more concerning was what C.C. planned to do with the man.

Captain Lucifuge was one of her more capable guardsmen, having averted plenty of terrorist attacks on his own, as well as hunting down several terrorist organizations headed by rival nobles who intended to assassinate her and her family. He was a commoner, like her, whose exploits in the three wars to claim Areas 8, 9 and 10 had shown his capabilities as a soldier and a leader, which brought her attention to him when she had begun looking through Britannia's military for guards for her family.

He had never earned knighthood, but he had never shown an interest in joining the nobility despite her offer to see him knighted. She knew the reason why, though, as he had explained thoroughly that he did not fancy taking on the responsibilities of knighthood, rather enjoying his current occupation then taking on additional jobs and services to his country. He was a rather laid-back individual, who only took his job as a guard for her family seriously.

As a commoner turned consort of the emperor, Charles zi Britannia, Marianne cared not for social standing but for the capabilities of her soldiers. It was why so many of the Britannian people loved her.

Marianne cared for none of this though, dividing her time between her family and Charles. Captain Lucifuge was one of her most trusted guards, one that she had been contemplating making into the head of her personal guard for a long time now. However, she had been leery of his sincerity to follow her when he had first joined the guard, in no small part due to his last name. She had eventually accepted his quirks regardless after he showed his loyalty through actions and a thorough background check had revealed that the Lucifuge family received their odd name from the joining of three separate families over many generations: the Lucane, the Ifritus, and the Ugeor familes.

However, Marianne was worried about C.C.'s intentions…if the immortal was intending to establish a new contract, then…?

XXX

I had taken to cleaning my weapons as a stress reliever. Only two hundred years ago, it was quite common for one's life to depend on their weapon's maintenance, though the practice had been around for much longer. After having spent thousands and thousands of years undergoing this ritual repeatedly, it had become something of a relaxing habit of mine.

Of course, it was not as if my life depended on the care of my weapons, since I was immortal, but it got old finding yourself without a body. Decapitation got old very fast.

I always kept a variety of handguns on my person, at least two of them at all times. My magnum revolver was harder to conceal, so I only brought it out when necessary. I kept at least two knives on my person as well, and one baton for bludgeoning someone when I had to take them alive.

Despite the advancements that God in my original universe had given me, I was still within human ability, just a human at top physical form. Moreover, while I could use my code to enhance my strength and durability, it was only to a certain extent. The human body could only go so far before it started falling apart.

In the case of enhancing my muscles and skin, well, the added strength had the effect of tearing muscles and ripping skin. In addition, if I increased the strength of my bones to take greater impacts, my body weight would drop as my body fat would be absorbed, which sapped my nutrients from the rest of my body to feed the growth of my bones. Besides, all physical changes were fleeting, and usually did more harm to my body that my code would need to fix then what those changes gave me in return, anyways.

Truthfully, elemental powers were easier on my body, since fire only dehydrated me, and ice numbed my body and threatened me with hypothermia. Lightning had the unfortunate side effect of frying my nervous system, and could knock me out at greater voltages, and earth sucked out all the nutrients in my body. Wind, however, was the safest power to use, merely requiring me to take in more oxygen to sustain it.

What this meant is that while I could potentially be stronger than a normal human could, the consequences for using these many powers were too great for me to regularly use and abuse. The only immortal that I had ever seen that could seemingly ignore these consequences was J.J., the man that would inspire the legend of Jesus Christ. Though he had only lived to be fifty, as he had managed to pass his code on relatively fast (for an immortal), he had been nearly godlike. Many of the examples in the bible just did not do him justice.

This was why I kept weapons with me wherever I went, because despite my many powers I was relatively on the same level as a normal human. The only powers that I could freely use were telepathy and the various mental powers that allowed me to connect with other humans and manipulate their minds.

This was of course how I manipulated the timeline, effecting the minds and wills of the various major figures in history. However, sometimes, controlling my puppets was not enough. Sometimes I needed to get dirty.

As I finished putting my handgun back together, now oiled and ready for operation, I set the weapon aside and reached for my coffee table. My pipe was old and worn in my hands, a gift from my last wife, the immortal and Chinese empress H.H., and the grandmother of Y.Y. who had acted as C.C.'s mentor from the moment I had left the former slave on my granddaughter's doorstep.

Funny, how events have fallen into place.

Y.Y. was dead now, and I had paid the idiot responsible for her death violently. That was probably why W.W., the immortal who inspired the legend of the Horsemen known as Famine fled from other immortals. He probably was still dealing with the terror and the horror of his memories from the one and only time that I had stood in his company.

Despite this, I could not regret my actions. Age had only increased my spitefulness and the need to seek retribution. It had been an unspoken rule that nobody would seek to steal my granddaughter's code, and yet W.W. had the audacity to do so.

The tobacco was sweet and pure, unlike the tainted kind sold throughout the majority of the world. I owned several farmsteads dedicated to growing it authentically, following my every instruction, so it was as close to how tobacco tasted from hundreds of years ago as modern tobacco was going to taste.

I pulled on the pipe deeply, my mind churning with my thoughts. I knew that for my plans to succeed I would need an army. A spy network was nice, but I needed a taskforce to deal with my enemies. In addition, I needed a figurehead to show the world.

I had an idea to start with, but it would take time.

I smiled.

If time was all that was required, then I had already won. All I had was time.

I placed my pipe aside on the table and withdrew my laptop from my carryon bag, setting it up on my lap and attaching my encrypted flash drive that would set up a secure link to my private network.

After I logged onto my secure message client, my fingers began drumming across the keys. What I wrote was thus:

Mr. Nemu: "_The time has come to talk of many things. Of shoes – ships – and sealing-wax – and cabbages – and kings."_

After a moment, I received a reply, which was thus:

X: "_Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! How I wonder what you're at!"_

After reading the message, I smiled thinly, pleased that they were ready. I typed:

Mr. Nemu: "_Rakshata Chawla."_

To Be Continued…

Author's Note:

Some of you may be wondering what the deal is up with those references to Alice in Wonderland at the end? Since the "Oz the Reflection" stories used symbolism throughout the manga and photo story, I figured, why not go ahead and add some symbolism of my own.

Anyways, the first poll for this story is closed, and the harem won. Next up, I will be posting a poll for how many girls or women wind up in the harem, with a max of 5 girls. No more than that, though. After that is decided, we will move onto who actually winds up in the harem.

I guess that is all for now.

As always, review and let me know what you think.

Ta.

Professor Image.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Code Geass. Sunrise entertainment owns the Code Geass anime and any other source materials. I have made no monetary gain off this story. I wrote this story for entertainment purposes only. Please do not sue.

Disclaimer #2: wolfblood123's challenge idea was what inspired the production of this story. Therefore, the original idea belongs to him. He has agreed to let me write this story, so I decided to go ahead and go for it. If you have any questions, please PM him or me.

Summary: "Life sucks. Then you die." "If only it were that simple." AN: Not your usual time travel, AU-fic!

Code Immortal: Lelouch of the Ageless

Verse VII

"Can't you see he's the man, let me hear you applaud!"

XXX

"Miss Chawla?" a voice broke her concentration. Rakshata Chawla looked up from the screen of her laptop to find a handsomely dressed man peering down at her from over dark sunglasses. He was tall and lean, not quite as tall as her, but impressive nonetheless.

"Yes?" she folded her laptop so that she could speak without the man invading her privacy. The man's brilliantly blue eyes glanced towards the laptop, a smile tugging at his lips, before raising his eyes to lock his gaze with hers.

"Rakshata Chawla," the man began, as if reading from a list, "Born November 17th, 1989. Age 17, Nationality: India province now known as Area 10," the mention of her utterly crushed homeland made the dark skin woman twitch in annoyance. The man continued without notice; "Currently a student at the Imperial Colechester Institute with a doctorate in robotics, a masters in physics and rocket science, and a bachelors in both biology and history." He listed.

"So you have read my file," Rakshata arched an eyebrow, resisting the urge to reach for her pipe. The man smiled thinly, an imperceptible expression because of its sublime vagueness. "I'm not impressed."

"Also," said the man, continuing as if he had expected her reaction, "Recently broke up with her longtime boyfriend, the Scion of the Asplund Family, Lloyd Asplund, for reasons not specified. However, sources believe that the argument that destroyed her relationship was due to Mister Asplund's inability to commit. However, my employer has _another_ theory…" his smile stretched, appearing almost snake-like in that instance. The very same smile a demon from hell would wear when capturing a hapless virgin.

Rakshata twitched again, uncertain. The man had hit close to her reasons for breaking up with Lloyd. It had upset her that he could not take their relationship serious. Nevertheless, the main reason for their separation was something else entirely.

However, the man's cool confidence shook her, as if he was so certain that he had all her vices and faults pegged to a wall for people to ogle as a trophy of his conquests.

"Guren, Lancelot?" he wondered aloud.

Rakshata felt her eyes widen, her body tensing with the need to demand where he had learned this information. Instead, she narrowed her eyes and placed aside her laptop. She found herself standing and stepping around her desk to confront the man.

"Oh – and who is this employer of yours to know of these things?" she prompted. He smiled, did a sort of short bow, and retrieved a card from his coat pocket to present to her.

"You may refer to him as Mr. Nemu," the man explained, before sweeping a hand down to motion to himself, "I am but his humble servant. Call me L.L., ma'am," he introduced himself. Rakshata's long fingers pulled the card from his hands, recognizing the region number at the front of the card as the region number for China. She looked to the man curiously, and he nodded at her gaze.

"Surely you didn't believe that a woman of your skill would remain inconspicuous for long? With the specs of your proposed joint Knightmare Frame project with Mister Asplund there was no hope that you could avoid the attention of potential clients…" He was completely composed while he delivered this statement, apparently disregarding the fact that _anyone_ could know of the Guren and the Lancelot since they were in an encrypted file in two hard drives that both she and Lloyd possessed that they had secured in two separate vaults years ago. He smiled, lowered his face towards her so that their noses touched and he could peer at her over his sunglasses. "We'll be in touch."

Just like that, L.L. turned an about face and disappeared out of the lab, leaving Rakshata standing there alone, turning the card in her grip through her fingers.

"Nemu, huh?" she wondered.

Written on the card, above the phone number, were two words:

_Peace Mark._

XXX

The flight back from Virginia was quiet and dull.

I spent most of my time staring out my window, my hands steepled in front of my face, and lost in thought.

It was remarkably easy to plant the trail of false information to one of the vi Britannia family's rivals. The family in question, one Constantine family, might have come to blows with my estranged mother and the rest of my displaced family, but they had never seriously considered assassinating the vi Britannia's. They had seen what happened to families that tried, but they were useful, if only for a scapegoat and a means to an end.

I had long since hacked their digital archive at the base of the family, and as the members of the assault squad assigned for dealing with them, it was laughably easy to place falsified evidence in our wake. The terrorist organization and spy network that I had created, obscurely known as "Peace Mark" but more accurately known as "The Black Advocate" I had created for the sole purpose of maneuvering history to my liking. It was a useless gesture now, though…so much had changed. Still, it was useful to have allies that you could use to bring up a fake mission to make your own disappearance to find a reclusive scientist go unnoticed. I doubted my brief jaunt to Rakshata's lab would even cause anyone to raise an eyebrow, if anyone even got word of it at all.

Beside me sat Miss X, a young woman who I had set up a contract with many years prior. I had been ill at ease with giving her the gift of the geass, since the mutation in my own code given to me by God in my original universe produced such varying aberrations. However, X, known more accurately as Evangeline turned out quite well. She still had the addiction to blood that many of my "children" possessed and could consume codes to strengthen her body, but she was mostly sane. Not like D.D., driven insane by the code I had placed in his body. No less, I still watched her carefully. She might have adjusted well to the geass I had given her and the codes she had stolen from my other malformed "children", but the years had taught me the value of paranoia.

I reflected briefly on my interaction with Rakshata, rather disappointed in the woman. In my original lifetime, she had possessed a very confident, authoritative presence and could maneuver situations to her pleasing. This version of Rakshata shared much similar insecurities with C.C., insecurities that I had been able to deduce and use against her freely.

For one, both Rakshata and C.C. liked to be in control of a situation, for their own reasons of course. C.C. did not trust people to be honest and capable of helping her out of the goodness of their own hearts. She liked to control situations with an aloof personality and the presence of much overhyped secrets that she would dangle before her victims to cull them to her whims. Rakshata, on the other hand, was dealing with feelings of isolation and betrayal, from the conquest of her homeland and the fact that she was now designated as a Ten, and from her lack of closure with Lloyd whom she still possessed an romantic attachment. Rakshata hid her insecurities with a mask of laziness and disinterest, ignoring human company. The company that she did keep she liked to steer towards her own selfish pursuits by using a combination of her intelligence, her understanding of her colleague's psyches, and her childishness.

Getting under both of their skin was relatively simple. By giving the air of confidence and complete disregard for their basic rights, their insecurities would force them to regress to a more vulnerable state, where their minds could be manipulated without resistance and, in fact, without them even realizing it at all.

By constantly pushing on C.C.'s vulnerabilities, then pulling back to give her time to recoup and rationalize, I had forced her in essence to adopt a wait and see approach to me. She was curious, aroused and frightened by my presence, but she would not run because of the ties that connected us and the fact that I had hinted that I knew more about her own desires and psyche then she herself did.

For Rakshata, I had to play on her insecurities and her pride, and finally her curiosity. Casually admitting that I knew of the secret project that she had been working on together with Lloyd Asplund, her ex-boyfriend, a project under heavy encryption and secured by both of the two geniuses in question, I excited her insecurities and curiosity. Then I remarked about her intelligence and that her skills were obviously noteworthy, playing once more on her insecurities, her pride, and her curiosity. Then I provided the double whammy, giving her my card that would link her to my secure network _when_ she called, making her curious about my organization. I tempted her by sliding into her personal space, making her both uncomfortable and heavily aroused, and left her there with a note of mystery that would entice her to dwell on the conversation and the proposal for many weeks until her curiosity reached a point that she _would_ call.

Most mental battles were part luck, part guesswork, and part surprising your enemy with your knowledge of them. Making it so that all three blended was difficult, but if they could flow seamlessly in your favor then you could trick anyone into following your lead.

Using both my prior knowledge from my old life plus everything I had learned through my spy network meant I had an unfair advantage, but I assuaged my guilt with the fact that I fully intended to reward them for reaching out for me. It took a lot of courage of a person as deeply troubled as those two to trust someone enough to reach out with no other reason than pretty words alone. For their troubles, I would make sure that they would have a happy life.

Evangeline was flipping through a few of the documents that I had given her to look through. I had picked through all of Japan to find what I wanted, but I found them, nonetheless. Beside her, the last person on the plane with Evangeline and me besides the pilots and the flight attendants was Evangeline's own "child", the geass user Chachamaru.

"I don't understand what is so special about these girls? The first two I get, but the rest…what are you up to, sire?" like many of my "children", Evangeline had incorrectly assumed that her geass and the codes she had consumed were a product of vampirism…and I had not seen any reason to correct her, because it was essentially true. Without the geass and the codes in her body, she would not crave blood… This was one of the many side effects of my code's mutation, which was something that affected my "children" to this day.

"Pawns, no more," I told her simply, removing the black king chess piece I kept with me at all occasions. I smiled grimly.

The page that Evangeline was staring at showed the picture of a Japanese girl the same age as Lelu vi Britannia, with brilliant blue eyes the same color as my own. Underneath the girl's bio read the name:

_Suzuka Kururugi._

XXX

C.C. paced the length of her room, running a hand moodily through her hair.

It had been several weeks since she had run into the immortal L.L. and the witch was beside herself with tension. L.L. had made it seem as if he could reach her at any time, so she wondered why he was letting her sit like this and ponder his actions and motivations.

By every right, she should have taken his presence to Marianne or the emperor, but she had held herself back. For reasons that eluded her, she wanted to hear whatever plans he had concocted for her. The hint there was something that she desired that she was unaware of was tempting…too tempting to just ignore. What could he know that she did not?

She had checked in with Marianne yesterday and understood that he was still working at Aries Villa, Marianne teasing her about her interest in her fellow immortal. She wanted to scream her frustrations at her "child" but had resisted.

L.L. unsettled her…in a way that she was only able to admit in the safety of her own mind. He was strong, confident, and had plans for her that she could not even hope to grasp…and he fully expected her to come to him of her own free will.

For the life of her, C.C. realized that despite her reservations, she actually _was_ going to approach him!

C.C. paused, not amused with the panic in her mind, seeping through every fiber of her body. She was not a little girl any more – she was over a thousand year's old, thank you very much! She could not believe that she was letting him get to her like this… He knew how to get under her skin and manipulate her to do his bidding, so what? This would not be the first time that someone used her for his or her own gain…

C.C.'s golden eyes darkened with resolve. Next time…and there would _be_ a next time…next time she would show him.

C.C. was _not_ amused…

To Be Continued…

Author's Note:

Ah yes, many revelations in this chapter… and a prelude to the next meeting between C.C. and Lelouch. One thing is certain; their next meeting will not go quite the same as the first.

I bet no one was expecting the revelation about Lelouch's code, yes. Trust me, in the context of this story it is exactly appropriate. You will see why, soon.

In addition, no, before anyone asks it, D.D. is NOT the real Vlad Tepes, the man that Dracula is based on in the real world. Nevertheless, there is a reason _why_ he inspired the legend of Dracula, and why Lelouch only found out about it through his network. You will see.

Anyways, I am going to post the next poll now. Check it out!

As always, read and review!

Ta.

Professor Image.


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